Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, the 107-year-old full-service law firm with extensive ties to digital media, entertainment, and other industries, and Richardson & Patel LLP, a boutique firm concentrated largely on corporate finance, securities, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and general corporate matters since its founding in 2000, announced that the law firms will merge effective July 1, 2015. The merged firm will retain the Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp (MSK) name and combine offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C.

“We’re very proud to be joining forces with the talented and entrepreneurial team at Richardson Patel”

Kevin Gaut, currently managing partner of MSK, has been appointed Chairman of the merged MSK, and Nimish Patel, currently co-founder and co-managing partner of Richardson Patel, has been appointed Vice Chairman.

“We’re very proud to be joining forces with the talented and entrepreneurial team at Richardson Patel,” said Mr. Gaut. “This is a combination that achieves multiple high-priority goals at once: expanding our abilities and presence in New York, enhancing our corporate practice across the board, and gaining the opportunity to serve emerging growth and middle market companies, both private and publicly traded —Richardson Patel’s primary client base—across a wide range of disciplines.”

“Over the years we’ve resisted more merger discussions than I can count. But the opportunity to join a firm with such rich history, consistent values, entrepreneurial spirit, and complementary practices was far too attractive to let go,” said Mr. Patel, who also cites the capacity of MSK to serve Richardson Patel’s growing corporate clients as a key to the merger. “As our clients have matured and grown in size, we’ve seen a need to expand the services we can provide them. Being able to offer litigation, tax, intellectual property, regulatory, and immigration counsel for their global workforces extends our footprint well beyond our current capacity.”

Richardson Patel’s co-managing partner Kevin Friedmann has been named Chairman of MSK’s Corporate Department. Mr. Patel and Mr. Friedmann will join MSK’s Governing Board. The new firm will have 130 attorneys total.